The document WO 2007/024241 describes a process for the manufacture of a porous carbon-based material. According to this process, a mixture of a carbon-based precursor, such as a resorcinol, for example, and a block polymer is formed in order to form a structured material. The carbon-based precursor is then crosslinked with formaldehyde and then the combined product is pyrolyzed. A carbon-based material having an organized nanostructure is obtained, the pores of which have a uniform size which can vary from 4 to 100 nm.
However, this process is carried out in an organic medium, which presents problems of pollution, this synthesis is complicated due to problems of miscibility between the components, it is expensive and has a low yield. Finally, the products obtained are not entirely satisfactory.
The document Chem. Mater., 2002, 14, 1665-1670, describes the production of mesoporous carbon-based materials. The process uses polystyrene microspheres as a mixture with an aqueous suspension of a resorcinol/formaldehyde resin. The polystyrene latex brings about the formation of pores with sizes ranging from 50 to 100 nm, which results in a low full capacitance.
The document FR-1 097 512 describes a process for the manufacture of sponges based on latex and on resorcinol/formaldehyde resin. The latex and the resin are mixed with various additives and then the mixture is gelled and vulcanized.
The document FR-0 961 294 relates to a process for strengthening latex mixtures. The latex is mixed with a resin and then gelled and dried.
The document J. Adhesion, 1984, vol. 16, p. 179-216, relates to adhesive compositions based on latex and on resorcinol/formaldehyde mixture. It is a study on the structure of these materials and on their fundamental properties.
The document Journal of Noncrystalline Solids, 353 (2007), 2893-2899, describes a carbon-based material prepared from a resorcinol/formaldehyde resin and from a PMMA latex. In a first step, a gel is formed and is dried and then pyrolyzed. The latex makes it possible to bring about a mesoporous structure in the carbon-based material. The presence of a graphite structure is mentioned but the X-ray spectrum does not make it possible to detect such a structure.
The document U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,218 describes xerogels of RF type of low density and their pyrolysis, resulting in carbon foams also of low density. These xerogels are intended for use as sound and/or heat insulator, in applications in high-energy physics or in catalysis, or in producing ion-exchange resins.
These materials are prepared by a process comprising the mixing of the reactants and their polymerization using a basic catalyst in aqueous medium, an exchange of solvent with an organic solvent and a drying operation in a supercritical CO2 medium. Such a process has a very high cost and is difficult to adapt to the industrial scale, in particular because it supposes the use of very large amounts of organic solvents.
In addition, the materials obtained after pyrolysis have a very high porosity (and thus a low density), which is reflected by relatively unsatisfactory conducting properties.
Various improvements to this process and to these materials have been proposed:                Convective drying, which generates RF xerogels (C. Lin and A. Ritter, Carbon, 35 (1997), 1271), followed by a pyrolysis, results in carbon xerogels, which are particularly advantageous as, on the one hand, the convective drying exhibits the advantage of being simple and inexpensive and, on the other hand, the materials retain very good structural and textural characteristics which allow them to be used in the powder form (C. Lin et al., J. Electrochem. Soc., 146 (1999), 3639) or as monoliths (N. Job et al., Carbon, 43 (2005), 2481).        The variation in certain parameters of the synthesis (pH, content of reactant, and the like) or postsynthesis (physical or chemical activations) makes it possible to adjust and to control the final structural, textural and mechanical properties (specific surface, porous volume, density, and the like) of the carbon xerogels (E. J. Zanto et al., Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 41 (2002), 3151).        Some additives (inorganic salts) have been used during the formulation of the precursor gels in order to optionally modify the surface composition of the final porous carbons (N. Job et al., Carbon, 42 (2004), 3217).        WO 01/19904 describes a mesoporous carbon-based material prepared by polymerization of a resorcinol/formaldehyde system in the presence of a surfactant, followed by treatment of the gel obtained by pyrolysis. The applications concerned are the production of supercapacitor electrodes and chromatography resins.        
However, the specific capacitance of the materials described in the prior art can be further improved.
The specific capacitance measured in the documents of the prior art (in particular WO 01/19904) is calculated with respect to the dry weight of the material. This method of calculation is nevertheless unsatisfactory as it is not representative of the performance of the material when it is employed as electrode.